Word: jihadist
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...details from past plots can be used to better identify new ones was demonstrated in a recent study by New York Police Department patching together commonalities of foiled jihadist activity in both the U.S. and Europe. One increasingly common aspect in many plots, the NYPD report notes, is the frequent presence of converts - whose zeal to prove their dedication to Islam can propel some into underground extremist activity facilitated sometimes by their physical appearances. "In politically incorrect language, they don't look like Muslims to most people, and the freedom of movement and lack of suspicion that affords is used...
...operational cells were formed after the trio had undergone training in Pakistan by the radical Islamic Jihad Union, and received periodic logistical support as they advanced their plot from a score of people also being sought. If accurate, that description of Fritz Martin G.'s journey toward jihadist terror activity mirrors those of earlier converts...
...bombing of a synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia - after Germany was forced to kick him free due to subsequently altered legal restraints. "Extremists will always turn to people Westerners won't initially suspect: converts, doctors, women," the intelligence official says. "We've seen converts, doctors, and women involved in jihadist terrorism. Expect that again, and start looking for the next unexpected category...
...Another repeated variable counter-terrorism forces look out for is what another French security official calls "the key": a particularly intense meeting, training session, or combat stint that pushes young extremists over the threshold of talk, and into a mind-set where action becomes a must. Fighting with jihadist forces in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Chechnya and now Iraq has served that purpose for thousands. But as was seen with member of the London bombing group and the trio arrested in Germany this week, trips to Pakistan to meet with or receive instruction from extremists there can also serve the purpose...
...importance placed on an attack succeeding, meanwhile, means that jihadist plots - whether prepared autonomously, or inspired and shaped from places like Pakistan - will almost always be attempted in countries and against targets where success has been judged greater, and by operatives best placed to pull them off: locals. The immediate political calculations often ascribed to such schemes - the German plot seeking to strike U.S. installations for its involvement in Iraq, and to also force Berlin to pull its troops from Afghanistan, for example - are actually usually secondary concerns...